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Damn! Why Didn't I Write That?: How Ordinary People Are Raking in $100,000.00... or More Writing Nonfiction Books & How You Can Too!
More nonfiction books are breaking the 100,000-copy sale barrier than ever before. Amateur writers, housewives, and even high school dropouts have cashed in with astonishingly simple best-sellers. This guide, by best-selling author Marc McCutcheon, shows the reader how to get in on the action by identifying lucrative publishing niches and filling them, not once, not twice, but year after year.
253 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
7 people are currently reading
226 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
January 3, 2022
I bought this book at a library used book sale. I don’t know how it got there because its pristine condition led me to believe that despite it having been published in 2001 that it had never been on the library’s shelf and it wasn’t even apparent that anybody had ever read it. It originally sold for $12.50. I paid $1 for it.
Why did I buy it – other than the fact that it was only a dollar? Look at the title – especially the subtitle: How ordinary People are Raking in $100,000.00 or More Writing Nonfiction Books & You Can Too!
Furthermore, on the back cover there is this: “Learn how to join the ranks of best-selling authors.”
The book begins with:
The Don’t Skip This Introduction Introduction
That’s the actual title of the introduction – which I skipped.
Chapter One: Could You Have Written Any of These?
A select representation of the hundreds of titles that earn thousands and even millions of dollars for their authors every year
Here the ante is raised from the $100,000.00 in the title to “millions of dollars.” And it was all so simple. All I had to do was go down this list and see how many of these books I could have written. Surely there were quite a few since there were 18 pages with about 20 titles on each page. That’s 360 books!
Here are some examples:
1001 Sex Secrets Every Woman Should Know (sold over 75,000 copies)
The author is Chris Allen. That strikes me as being the name of a male, but if it is he nevertheless claims to know a bunch of sex secrets that women should know. I could not have written the book because I know only about 10 or 20 secrets about anything and everything and I am not telling what they are because they would no longer be secrets.
1001 Sex Secrets Every Man Should Know (sold over 75,000 copies)
Well, what do you know? Chris Allen wrote this book too. He/she claims to know 2002 sex secrets!
Are You Normal? (100,000 copies sold)
Well, not if you know 2002 sex secrets. Besides, my answer to that question is that I hope not.
The Straw Bale House (sold over 100,000 copies)
There is a note that according to the publisher only 2000 straw bale houses have been built. That would account for the fact that there are 98,000 copies of this book in used bookstores.
How To Make Your Man Behave in 21 Days or Less Using the Secrets of Professional Dog Trainers (sold 147,000 copies)
Pass. I can’t even get one of my dogs to behave.
The Code: Time-Tested Secrets for Getting What You Want From Women Without Marrying Them! (sold 265,000 copies)
No comment -- and anyway its too late.
Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun (sold 485,000 copies)
I don’t know what his leadership secrets were but I worked for a couple of people who may have read this book.
101 Nights of Grrreat Sex (self-published; sold 525,000 copies)
101 nights! That’s over 3 months! I was surprised that Chris Allen didn’t write this one.
Don’t Squat With Yer Spurs On! A Cowboy’s Guide to Life (sold 114,945 copies)
I have a copy of this one. It was a gift from my daughter-in-law. It is filled with pithy advice from the pen of one Texas Bix Bender. The title is a good example of the kind of advice that is found among the 139 common sense suggestions that Texas Bix provides for the reader’s consideration and contemplation.
No, I couldn’t have written it either. I am not capable of coming up with 139 suggestions – common sense or otherwise -- but I do try to follow T.B.B.’s guide to life.
For example:
Never take to sawin’ the branch that’s supportin’ you, unless you’re bein’ hung from it.”
A total of 360 books – and I couldn’t have written a single one of them.
To be fair, though I think the author was unfair, he included some best sellers written by well-known authors, people such as Jared Diamond, Jon Krakauer, Sebastian Junger, Frank McCourt, Stephen Ambrose, and others. I don’t know why they were listed because if I could write as well as those authors I would never have bought his book – not even for a dollar.
******
I should mention that some readers did find the book to be helpful. Here on Goodreads the book received 213 ratings; an average of 3.72; and 26 reviews. Over on Amazon one hundred readers gave it an average rating of 4.2.
Why did I buy it – other than the fact that it was only a dollar? Look at the title – especially the subtitle: How ordinary People are Raking in $100,000.00 or More Writing Nonfiction Books & You Can Too!
Furthermore, on the back cover there is this: “Learn how to join the ranks of best-selling authors.”
The book begins with:
The Don’t Skip This Introduction Introduction
That’s the actual title of the introduction – which I skipped.
Chapter One: Could You Have Written Any of These?
A select representation of the hundreds of titles that earn thousands and even millions of dollars for their authors every year
Here the ante is raised from the $100,000.00 in the title to “millions of dollars.” And it was all so simple. All I had to do was go down this list and see how many of these books I could have written. Surely there were quite a few since there were 18 pages with about 20 titles on each page. That’s 360 books!
Here are some examples:
1001 Sex Secrets Every Woman Should Know (sold over 75,000 copies)
The author is Chris Allen. That strikes me as being the name of a male, but if it is he nevertheless claims to know a bunch of sex secrets that women should know. I could not have written the book because I know only about 10 or 20 secrets about anything and everything and I am not telling what they are because they would no longer be secrets.
1001 Sex Secrets Every Man Should Know (sold over 75,000 copies)
Well, what do you know? Chris Allen wrote this book too. He/she claims to know 2002 sex secrets!
Are You Normal? (100,000 copies sold)
Well, not if you know 2002 sex secrets. Besides, my answer to that question is that I hope not.
The Straw Bale House (sold over 100,000 copies)
There is a note that according to the publisher only 2000 straw bale houses have been built. That would account for the fact that there are 98,000 copies of this book in used bookstores.
How To Make Your Man Behave in 21 Days or Less Using the Secrets of Professional Dog Trainers (sold 147,000 copies)
Pass. I can’t even get one of my dogs to behave.
The Code: Time-Tested Secrets for Getting What You Want From Women Without Marrying Them! (sold 265,000 copies)
No comment -- and anyway its too late.
Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun (sold 485,000 copies)
I don’t know what his leadership secrets were but I worked for a couple of people who may have read this book.
101 Nights of Grrreat Sex (self-published; sold 525,000 copies)
101 nights! That’s over 3 months! I was surprised that Chris Allen didn’t write this one.
Don’t Squat With Yer Spurs On! A Cowboy’s Guide to Life (sold 114,945 copies)
I have a copy of this one. It was a gift from my daughter-in-law. It is filled with pithy advice from the pen of one Texas Bix Bender. The title is a good example of the kind of advice that is found among the 139 common sense suggestions that Texas Bix provides for the reader’s consideration and contemplation.
No, I couldn’t have written it either. I am not capable of coming up with 139 suggestions – common sense or otherwise -- but I do try to follow T.B.B.’s guide to life.
For example:
Never take to sawin’ the branch that’s supportin’ you, unless you’re bein’ hung from it.”
A total of 360 books – and I couldn’t have written a single one of them.
To be fair, though I think the author was unfair, he included some best sellers written by well-known authors, people such as Jared Diamond, Jon Krakauer, Sebastian Junger, Frank McCourt, Stephen Ambrose, and others. I don’t know why they were listed because if I could write as well as those authors I would never have bought his book – not even for a dollar.
******
I should mention that some readers did find the book to be helpful. Here on Goodreads the book received 213 ratings; an average of 3.72; and 26 reviews. Over on Amazon one hundred readers gave it an average rating of 4.2.
November 7, 2011
Simple. To the point. I'm doubtful on the $100,000 part though. I'm sure those are the exceptions, but it is possible. This book will give you everything you need to get started, broker your advance (ha!), and then self-promote because your publisher isn't going to do nearly as much as you would like them too. This is a carbon copy of the independent film business. The great thing about writing a book is that it doesn't cost anything except time.
March 16, 2010
Really does make you feel like you could write a nonfiction book. Though it makes me feel like you need a really good idea to start with. And a passion for the subject.
Which makes me stuck at the first hurdle!
I skimmed/skipped the chapters on book contracts and promotion. I know the basics, and it's a little early to be worried about the details of either. And there are books/other resources out there dedicated to those details that would probably be more useful.
Plus, this is going on 10 years out of date. Just old enough to be not _quite_ right when he gives advice on computers, word processors, and internet resources. Altavista is the best search engine? Really?
Now that I think about it, a fair amount of this book is lists. Pages of a list of bestselling nonfiction titles. Pages and pages of internet resources that I can't trust even exist anymore.
And he even pasted in his own query letters. Hey, how about that? He's getting paid for his query letters now! Not that they aren't helpful, but think about it..
Anywho, not bad, but if you're serious about doing this, something a little more current would probably be more useful.
Which makes me stuck at the first hurdle!
I skimmed/skipped the chapters on book contracts and promotion. I know the basics, and it's a little early to be worried about the details of either. And there are books/other resources out there dedicated to those details that would probably be more useful.
Plus, this is going on 10 years out of date. Just old enough to be not _quite_ right when he gives advice on computers, word processors, and internet resources. Altavista is the best search engine? Really?
Now that I think about it, a fair amount of this book is lists. Pages of a list of bestselling nonfiction titles. Pages and pages of internet resources that I can't trust even exist anymore.
And he even pasted in his own query letters. Hey, how about that? He's getting paid for his query letters now! Not that they aren't helpful, but think about it..
Anywho, not bad, but if you're serious about doing this, something a little more current would probably be more useful.
September 3, 2016
All these "how to be creative" books are the same. Useless.
December 24, 2014
This is a very well-written and thorough how-to book on writing an expert book about a subject (I wonder what the philosopher Bertrand Russell would have had to say about that?). The author takes you through from concept, testing, research, planning, writing a proposal, negotiating - and even a primer on subsidiary rights.
I would certainly say that this is a great guide for writing non-fiction, and how-to books. My concern would be that it's rapidly become out-dated by the explosion of information on the internet. It's now far easier for some internet marketer to pay peanuts to someone in a developing country and produce something mediocre that competes in your niche. Sure, there will always be a market for great writing, but that market will pay less and less. I would have to wonder if the wise writer would now go down a different path and put his content online and skip the traditional publisher. In the time it takes for a publisher to reject your work you could be making a decent income from it if you get your act together. Having said all that, this book will really help you get your book ready to self-publish. There are a lot of spammy 'how-to' books from internet marketers which would cost more than this, by people who just sell internet marketing books and courses. This author is the real deal!
I would certainly say that this is a great guide for writing non-fiction, and how-to books. My concern would be that it's rapidly become out-dated by the explosion of information on the internet. It's now far easier for some internet marketer to pay peanuts to someone in a developing country and produce something mediocre that competes in your niche. Sure, there will always be a market for great writing, but that market will pay less and less. I would have to wonder if the wise writer would now go down a different path and put his content online and skip the traditional publisher. In the time it takes for a publisher to reject your work you could be making a decent income from it if you get your act together. Having said all that, this book will really help you get your book ready to self-publish. There are a lot of spammy 'how-to' books from internet marketers which would cost more than this, by people who just sell internet marketing books and courses. This author is the real deal!
December 12, 2017
Very dated information from 2001 and the focus is on getting an agent/traditional publishing. Almost no mention of self-publishing, which is a major publishing avenue for contemporary (2017) writers. Over 10% of the content is a list of common nonfiction books as examples. Do we really need that many? For those needing information on including maps, illustrations, and photographs--a major component of many nonfiction books--the only information is that it is the responsibility of the author to secure rights to these. This is a useful book for the marketplace but it is in serious need of updating.
Want to read
January 11, 2010I read this review and thought this looked interesting: http://allfreelancewriting.com/2008/06/11/writers-resources/damn-why-didnt-i-write-that-book-review/
March 28, 2013
Good info on nonfiction publishing, and motivators (if a book called "Why Cats Paint" can be published then maybe there's hope for my book!).
May 16, 2021
This is terrible. It is the written equivalent of a tourist trap. There is an entire chapter dedicated to simply listing books and sales. Not a top ten, not the outliers, and not an intelligent sampling. It is not well written, it is over stylized, and it is completely unhelpful. If I had purchased this I would try to return it for my money back and some compensation for my time. Since I borrowed it from the library, I don’t want to return to prevent more victims from wasting time on this snake oil.
April 24, 2019
Especially for nonfiction writers, Marc McCutcheon really pares it down to the nitty-gritty in this book. This was the 2009 version, and I keep looking for an updated version, because he has done his research, but this type of knowledge has to be updated from time to time. Highly recommended for aspiring writers, this book is full of specific information and knowledge he has gleaned over time, and which led to publication in many areas for him. Not to be missed.
December 15, 2012
I love this book! If you are thinking about writing a non-fiction book, this is the book for you. Damn, Why Didn't I Write That! is full of relevant information, interesting assides and useful knowledge for the writer considering writing a non-fiction book. It's funny, encouraging and engaging writing.
The book focuses primarily on marketing, and how to make money as a writer as opposed to the "craft of writing." Since I was in it for the information on the business of writing, I was quite happy. Marc McCutcheon has done his homework, and you are the beneficiary! I used some of his information in my book, Self-Publising for Virgins. Great book and rates a ten on the "dent" scale. (The dent scale is my method of measuring the usefulness of a non-fiction book by assessing the numbe of "dents" or dog-eared pages, paper clips, highlighted passages, and post-it-noted pages). This book looked like an accordion when I was finsihed. Great read.
The book focuses primarily on marketing, and how to make money as a writer as opposed to the "craft of writing." Since I was in it for the information on the business of writing, I was quite happy. Marc McCutcheon has done his homework, and you are the beneficiary! I used some of his information in my book, Self-Publising for Virgins. Great book and rates a ten on the "dent" scale. (The dent scale is my method of measuring the usefulness of a non-fiction book by assessing the numbe of "dents" or dog-eared pages, paper clips, highlighted passages, and post-it-noted pages). This book looked like an accordion when I was finsihed. Great read.
May 17, 2011
For the first time writer, I would highly recommend this book. A friend found it in the library while I was looking for more academic titles on writing. It looked pretty rough and tumble and big on shortcuts by it's title but it's actually really good--very honest. I'm better at accomplishing tasks if I'm given "homework" and a list of things to do in proper chronological order--this book has done that. I not only feel like I'm getting things done, I feel like I'm on the right path as far as the writing and publishing process goes, in this case, a non-fiction that I'm starting.
August 3, 2015
Excellent book on writing nonfiction. After reading, you really do feel like you can write and publish a book. He gives some great tips and pointers, and also gives dozens of examples of people who have written very successful nonfiction books.
McCutcheon does a great job of explaining why it is easier to succeed in the nonfiction market, as opposed to the fiction market. He even tells you how to write a book about a subject that you don't know much about.
When you finish, you are inspired to write! You just have to figure out what you will write about.
McCutcheon does a great job of explaining why it is easier to succeed in the nonfiction market, as opposed to the fiction market. He even tells you how to write a book about a subject that you don't know much about.
When you finish, you are inspired to write! You just have to figure out what you will write about.
June 12, 2017
The edition I got from the local library is the second printing (2002) of the 2001 edition, so it's missing any real discussion of eBooks and other electronic forms of publishing.
Still, it's a good read for anyone considering writing a non-fiction book. The coaching type of writing style can get you fired up about your future projects and maybe even help you to think of some, but I have to be honest and say that by the end, I couldn't think of a non-fiction project to do.
Still, it's a good read for anyone considering writing a non-fiction book. The coaching type of writing style can get you fired up about your future projects and maybe even help you to think of some, but I have to be honest and say that by the end, I couldn't think of a non-fiction project to do.
August 6, 2009
This is a really good book and an act of generosity by the author. As others have said in their reviews, it offers strong encouragement to make the move from daydreaming about writing a book to doing it, and also provides concrete, down-to-earth guidance on the process of writing and getting published.
December 4, 2010
An excellent step-by-step on producing saleable nonfiction book proposals and the mechanics of writing as a business. It's encouraging and practical, but slightly out of date, as it places much emphasis on library research and written queries, but barely touches on possibilities of the Internet.
May 28, 2013
This book gave me the inspiration to move forward and start writing mine. The author made it seem like writing your own nonfiction book was easily in reach, using examples of others who had written popular selling books previously with a slew of success stories.
Want to read
May 2, 2007Seriously. I need to do this. It would be a lot of fun :)
January 15, 2008
Some great ideas for would-be authors.
March 11, 2008
I loved this book, motivates you to write the book that has always been in you to write.
August 2, 2010
(didn’t read it all). How to write non-fiction books and make a decent living.
Read
December 4, 2010Gave away to Nano 2010
March 11, 2011
For my rhetorical analysis class...so far, interesting information, a bit grating tone. (The tone part is why I'm reading it!)
June 4, 2011
Excellent advice for a non-fiction writer. Highly recommended.
July 30, 2011
Love this little guide to writing non-fiction books and getting published.
August 5, 2016
Great information, well laid-out. My only quibble is it totally omits self-publishing as an option.
February 1, 2016
Great book! Very helpful, informative and inspiring.
January 12, 2010
fun and educational for those of you interested in writing and self publishing.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews